Unit 3 Flashcards
(313 cards)
Describe at least five different properties of malignant cancer cells.
(1) Altered morphology
(2) Loss of contact inhibition
(3) Ability to grow without attachment to solid substrate (anchorage independence)
(4) Ability to proliferate indefinitely (immortalization)
(5) Reduced requirement for mitogenic growth factors
(6) High saturation density
(7) Inability to halt proliferation in response to deprivation of growth factors
(8) Increased transport of glucose
(9) Tumorigenicty
Describe the multi-step process for carcinogenesis, and discuss the relative importance of heredity and the environment and why early events may include mutations in DNA repair genes.
Increased proliferation Early neoplasia Progressive neoplasia Carcinoma Metastasis
Fidelity of tumor suppression genes is critical to keep the cell cycle in check. When this function is lost, cells can proliferate uncontrollably.
Early exposure to carcinogens can lead to further mutations later in life.
Discuss the types of genes usually mutated in tumor initiation and their effect on cellular proliferation.
Oncogene: Drives proliferation (quantitative or qualitative changes)
Tumor Suppressors: Inhibit cancer (molecules that inhibit proliferation or metastasis)
Describe at least two different examples for the type of cytogenetic abnormalities associated with malignancy.
BCR-ABL: BCR gene contains a strong promotor and ABL gene is a protein kinase which drives cell proliferation. (Philadephia Chromosome) - Causes CML
Retina blastoma: Loss of heterozygosity because one gene will be mutated at birth. When cells divide, mitotic recombination can lead to one cell getting both mutations knocking out the RB1 gene (a tumor suppressor).
Give at least two examples of events that can produce loss of heterozygosity and how they support Knudson’s theory.
(1) Mitotic recombination
(2) Tumor viruses targeting tumor suppressors (RB, p53)
Supports Knudson’s theory of just needing “one additional hit” to get cancer.
Describe how cancers are associated with both dominant and recessive syndromes.
For loss of function (tumor suppressors) inheritance is in a dominant manner. However both genes need to be lost (during mitotic recombination) to be affected which behaves in a recessive manner.
List at least three biochemical properties of the protein product of the RB gene.
(1) stabilizes constitutive heterochromatin to maintain the overall chromatin structure
(2) hypophosphorylated form of the protein binds transcription factor E2F1
(3) Recruits and targets histone methyltransferases, leading to epigenetic transcriptional repression
Describe how the RB protein functions during the cell cycle and why it is important in cancer; specifically how the loss of RB may produce a malignancy.
RB gene blocks the cell cycle from moving from the G1 phase to the S phase of the cell cycle.
Describe the hallmark of a tumor suppressor gene or anti-oncogene and how this relates to the RB gene.
Tumor Suppressors: Inhibit cancer (molecules that inhibit proliferation or metastasis). The RB gene is a tumor suppressor so in the case of homozygous loss of this gene, the cell has a high chance of becoming cancerous.
Explain why APC, BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes are tumor suppressors.
APC, BRCA1 and BRCA2 inhibit cell cycle:
APC: Beta-catenin, is regulated by the APC protein through the Wnt signaling pathway. Regulation of beta-catenin prevents genes that stimulate cell division from being turned on too often and prevents cell overgrowth.
BRCA1: regulates cell cycle when there is DNA damage. Either leads to DNA repair or apoptosis.
BRCA2: important to binding Rad51 which is important in recruiting sister chromosome to for homologous recombination.
Describe why p53 was originally incorrectly thought to be an oncogene.
Because cells which are heterozygous for p53 mutations result in cancer. This is because the active form of the protein is a tetramer of four “good” proteins. When one protein is misformed, it kills the functionality of p53.
Explain why p53 is the “guardian of the genome.”
In its anti-cancer role, p53 works through several mechanisms:
(1) Activate DNA repair proteins when DNA has sustained damage.
(2) Arrest growth by holding the cell cycle at the G1/S regulation point to allow for DNA damage repair
(3) It can initiate apoptosis if DNA damage proves to be irreparable.
Describe the cellular function of the p53 protein.
p53 is a transcription factor which identifies then binds to a promotor region.
Recognize HPV (human papilloma virus) as an example of an oncogenic virus in humans
HPV produces two proteins: E6 and E7. E7 binds RB and inactivates it. E6 binds p53 and causes it to be degraded.
HPV also integrates into the DNA of a cell and destroys the E1 repressor which turns on E6 and E7.
What is oncogene dependence?
When a tumor requires a product of a mutation in order to survive.
Explain the Wnt2 pathway
Wnt (growth factor) binds Frizzled
Bound Frizzled releases beta-catenin from cytoplasm into nucleus
Beta-catenin activates the TCF transcription factors
TCF turns on an oncogene called c-myc
What percentage of cancers include p53 mutations?
What is the most common type of p53 mutation?
~50%
missense (~75%)
What is a dominant negative mutation?
A mutation that occurs when one miscoded protein can result in an inhibitory effect for other interacting proteins/molecules.
What is c-myc?
Myc protein is a transcription factor that activates expression of many genes through binding enhancer box sequences and recruiting histone acetyltransferases (HATs). It can also act as a transcriptional repressor.
Discuss the functions of protein products of viral oncogenes, including at least four examples of oncogenes of known function.
(1) v-src gene codes for a membrane bound protein
kinase that phosphorylates tyrosine residues in several different proteins, affecting gene expression.
(2) v-erb-B codes for a protein that is similar in structure to the cell surface receptor for epidermal growth factor (EGFR). This raises the possibility that this protein has growth stimulating properties like EGFR.
(3) v-abl codes for a protein kinase that phosphorylates tyrosine residues on other proteins. Similar to c-ABL
(4) v-myc - This gene is usually fused with a portion of the gag gene. It appears that this gene is capable of eliciting neoplastic transformation of cells.
Describe why oncogenes are useful as molecular markers in prognosis
Oncogenes are gain of function mutations which cause hyper-proliferation in a cell. Using FISH to identify n-myc, for instance copy number can be identified. The higher the copy number, the worse the prognosis.
Differentiate between oncogenes and tumor suppressor genes and describe the function of these two types of cancer genes and how mutations in them may combine to produce cancers.
Oncogenes: Gain of function
Tumor Suppressor: Loss of function
Both increased ability to proliferate (oncogene) and decreased regulation (tumor suppressor) lead to increasingly aggressive cancers.
Describe two examples of how molecular, genomic, and clinical information (Bioinformatics) about a patient’s cancer are being used for targeted therapy and for “personalized medicine” in cancer.
Humanized Herceptin: Increases radiation efficacy (antibody binds to receptor Her2 (ErbB2) - oncogene)
Gleevec: Mimics ATP and fits only into ABL binding pocket (CML) so won’t interfere with other cellular functions.
How are bioinformatics and personalized medicine used to treat cancer patients?
Diagnosis (malignant breast cancer)
Prognosis (poor - need therapy)
Therapy (high ER [Tamoxifen]; high ErbB2 [Herceptin])